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BOSTON — Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, told a group of Democratic activists that America needs women’s voices in the coming election, supporting the policies and politicians who support women.

“There aren’t two men who care more about women than my husband, Vice President Joe Biden, and President Barack Obama,” Biden said.

Biden spoke at a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas, the Democratic congresswoman representing Massachusetts’ 5th Congressional District. Around 150 people attended the “Women for Niki” event at the State Room, with contribution levels ranging from $125 to $2,500.

Biden told the group that America needs leaders “who understand that we are still fighting our way back from the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression, who will work to create jobs, and to take common sense steps to grow our economy.”

Biden stressed the need for leaders who recognize the importance of education. Focusing on women’s issues, she said, “We need leaders who understand that good affordable contraception and prenatal care are important to every family in America. We need leaders who understand that we must go forward not backwards, as some would have us do in our battle to end violence against women.”

The Violence Against Women Act, which provides money for combating domestic violence, is up for reauthorization and stalled in Congress over a debate about additional protections for gay and transgender individuals, Native Americans and illegal immigrants.

Biden touted the accomplishments for women under President Obama: having three women on the Supreme Court and several prominent female cabinet members, and having Obama sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as the first bill he signed into law. The act makes it easier for women to sue in cases of pay discrimination.

Biden brought a personal touch to the event, noting that she and Tsongas met 31 years ago in Washington when their husbands were serving in the Senate and both women were pregnant at the same time. Biden recalled that they had a Senate wives club, and the wives wore Red Cross uniforms and rolled bandages. “It wasn’t spouses, it was wives,” Biden said. “We actually had to vote whether we’d call it spouses or not.”

APNiki Tsongas

Biden praised Tsongas as “a smart, tough and principled woman who will work hard every day for the people of Massachusetts.”

Warren, the Democratic Senate candidate, spoke briefly and said she worked with Tsongas in Washington on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren called Tsongas a “solid voice for reason and sanity in what felt like an insane place.”

Tsongas used the opportunity to deliver a harsh critique of the Republican Party. Opening with a joke about Soviet leaders rewriting history to justify their actions, she said, “The Russian people would joke the present and future was easy to imagine but the past was unpredictable. That’s how I feel when I listen to my Republican colleagues on the floor of the House.”

“In their rewriting of history, there is no sign of the long struggle of women to secure choice or pay equity or protection against sexual violence and harassment,” Tsongas said. She criticized the Bush administration and Congress for squandering budget surpluses on two wars and the Bush tax cuts.

Due to redistricting, Tsongas will be running in the newly constituted 3rd Congressional District in the northern part of the state. Republicans Jon Golnik and Tom Weaver are also competing for the seat.